Plan-It Sustainably Blog – Northern Section of the California Chapter of the America Planning Association.https://norcalapa.org
Making Great Communities HappenThu, 22 Feb 2018 01:41:06 -0800en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.4Future-ready City-Regions: The Next Competitive Edge?https://norcalapa.org/sustainability-blog/future-ready-city-regions-next-competitive-edge/
https://norcalapa.org/sustainability-blog/future-ready-city-regions-next-competitive-edge/#respondSat, 10 Dec 2016 21:23:54 +0000https://norcalapa.org/?post_type=sustainability-blog&p=9140A recent post by Alex Steffan poses some provocative challenges to urban planning and urban planners, and municipal executives around the world. In a sense, it illuminates the core challenge and intention of the world’s new Sustainable Development Goals and New Urban Agenda. The following paraphrases and excerpts the key points. In light of our […]

]]>A recent post by Alex Steffan poses some provocative challenges to urban planning and urban planners, and municipal executives around the world. In a sense, it illuminates the core challenge and intention of the world’s new Sustainable Development Goals and New Urban Agenda. The following paraphrases and excerpts the key points.

In light of our climate and our other planetary crises, many of us and our children will likely make residential location decisions in the coming years based on a city/region’s future-readiness. But which city to select; maybe the most “future-ready?”

To realistically evaluate the future-readiness of a place one can asses three kinds of brittleness: systemic, operational and social. Yet, readiness to act matters at least as much as how well-positioned a place is now.

No city-region on Earth is nearly as future-ready as it needs to be. Every place should be investing boldly over the next decades in ruggedizing their systems, growing civic resilience and building up the local capacity for innovation, adaptation and rapid cultural change.

Yet, head-starts are not destiny. Because so much work remains to be done, everywhere, being a city-region ready to meet the future (whatever it looks like) is — to some real degree — more important than being luckiest in location or wealthiest at the moment.

Successful engagement with future turmoil will demand leadership, strong civic cultures, commitment to change, tough choices, aggressive action on big systems. No city out there is moving fast enough, yet, but some are beginning to show signs of understanding the scope, scale and speed of the change demanded of them.

A city that’s moving fast to meet the future may have more advantage than one that started father ahead, but is stuck and complacent, or simply unwilling to go beyond mere incremental change.

It’s likely that a city that really threw itself to the forefront of urban innovation (and had a clear commit to even bolder innovations to come) would find itself a magnet for civic talent, entrepreneurial efforts and global investment.

Wherever it may emerge, the edge a leading bright green city-region gains in the next 20 years could put it in a position of increasing prosperity for a century, even in the midst of hard and turbulent times.

The whole world will eventually need what that city is inventing. The solutions it explores and develops could benefit the entire world and launch a wave of successful enterprises.

Paraphrase/Excerpt, Alex Steffan, Future-ready cities: Choosing where to live on a planet in crisis; Why the capacity and willingness to change trump everything. https://medium.com/@AlexSteffen/future-ready-cities-choosing-where-to-live-on-a-planet-in-crisis-478f3e2f3fb8#.isv6sy4qm

Post Prepared by Scott T. Edmondson, AICP, founder/past co-director, and Research Program Lead of the Northern Section’s Sustainability Committee, one of the APA Sustainable Communities Division’s Sustainability Champions, and a strategic sustainability planner-economist at the SF Planning Department

Description

Please join us and some of your internationally-oriented local planning colleagues for another UCB/APA collaboration linking academia to practice. This session will explore the Implications of Habitat III for Bay Area sustainability planning. Each class team will (1) summarize one Habitat 3 Issue Paper, (2) describe how they applied it to the issues and challenges of their Bay Area case-city, and (3) state their findings and recommendations. Their findings will be based on the challenges and prospects of their case-study city achieving sustainable urbanization and with reference to the new possibilities opened up by the world’s New Urban Agenda from Habitat III. The cases will also include an individual 5-page policy memo written to the Director of Planning in each case-study city. Final products will be available on the web.

These presentations continue Professor Acey’s past projects focused on real world practices of the undergraduate “Planning for Sustainability” class. Topics have included (1) global sustainability and UN Sustainable Development Goals, (2) regional sustainability planning in the San Francisco Bay Area, and (3) local planning for sustainability using the American Planning Association’s new accreditation guidelines to review general/comprehensive plans for meeting sustainability criteria (see links below).

This semester’s project will explore new pathways for urban sustainability based on the world’s new sustainable development goals (Fall 2015) and Habitat 3’s New Urban Agenda (Fall 2016). Each student research group will use one of Habitat III’s Issue Papers to prepare a background case study for their local Bay Area “case-study” city. The Teams will use their Issue Paper to reframe the local challenge and develop new sustainability planning responses reflecting the New Urban Agenda. The teams will interview at least one planning official/expert.

The United Nations Habitat III Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development took place in Quito, Ecuador, on October 17-20. The outcome of the conference is a New Urban Agenda designed to reinvigorate the global commitment to sustainable urbanization, recognizing the enormous role and impact that cities have on the global environment and economy (https://www.habitat3.org/).

In this webinar, we will explore The Living Community Challenge (LCC), a new design framework developed by the International Living Future Institute (the Institute), which seeks to lead the transformation toward communities that are socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative. The LCC is a certification program, as well as a planning and design philosophy that starts by raising the question, “What does good look like?”

Explore the power of the “Patterns” approach to planning and designing Living Communities

Discuss how the Living Community Challenge and Patterns may be used in practice

Credit: 1 CM | 1 GBCI

Audience: Whether you are a Planner, Project Manager, Sustainability Consultant, part of a Neighborhood Association/Development Authority, or work for a Chamber of Commerce or municipality you will gain an understanding of how to adapt this enhanced understanding of sustainable community planning to your own practice and neighborhood-scale projects.

The UCB IURD and APA California Norther Sustainability Committee co-hosted a panel discussion on the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat 3) held from October 17-20 in Quito, Ecuador. /1/ The Conference adopted the New Urban Agenda, a global urban development policy framework, which has been 2 years (or 40 years!) in the making. The goal of the New Urban Agenda is to foster transformations across the urban world. The panel discussed the NUA and its new Sustainable Development Goals. It explored the implications for local planning practice and global sustainability.

Comment: One illustration of the magnitude of the “planning” challenge is providing 1 new city /week of 1M pop to meet the needs of population growth from 2000-2050 (+3B).

As hopeful as Habitat 3 is, with the new world focus on urban policy of the NUA and SDGs focused on transforming the urban world, how do you feel Habitat 3 will change the sustainability game of past 25 years that have unfolded since Rio 1992?

Holly (1:04:30)

Charisma (1:07:40)

Jason (1:10:15

Audience Q&A (1:11:55)

What are Habitat 3’s Implementation Tensions? What are the tensions in Habitat 3 between the NUA and implementation? (1:11:55)

What is the Effect of Population Growth? What do we do about population growth? (1:16:25)

Will Habitat 3’s Top-Down Engagement Trickle Down? As you’ve described, Habitat 3 involves multi-sectoral collaboration and participation, yet most Latin American cities are embedded in top down, authoritative structures and Habitat 3 appears top down as well; how do you see the benefits of Habitat 3 trickling down in Latin American countries to populations that don’t and can’t participate? (1:22:15)

Can Habitat 3 Principles Secure the “Right to the City” in the Face of Unprecedented Globalization Forces? The slide that showed 6B people will be living in cities by 2050, equivalent to the current world population, implies a future need to renegotiate traditional concepts of borders as many cities grow in population to become the equivalent of city states. In this context, how can Habitat 3 principles and processes be used to secure the right to city as cities face unprecedented population growth and the globalization of capital, fiscalization of land use, and soaring property prices? (1:27:52)

Some past posts on the New Urban Agenda and the world’s new Sustainable Development Goals follow here:

/1/ University of California, Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Department of City & Regional Planning, Institute for Urban and Regional Development, and the American Planning Association California Chapter, Northern Section, Sustainability Committee.

[Post prepared by Scott T. Edmondson, AICP, founder/past co-director and Research Program Lead of the Northern Section’s Sustainability Committee, one of the APA Sustainable Communities Division’s Sustainability Champions, and a strategic sustainability planner-economist at the SF Planning Department.]

]]>https://norcalapa.org/sustainability-blog/event-ucpapa-habitat-3-implications-local-planning/feed/0From Biophilic Buildings to Cities Workshop – SF, Arup, CMU-BCA, BCNhttps://norcalapa.org/sustainability-blog/biophilic-buildings-city-workshop/
https://norcalapa.org/sustainability-blog/biophilic-buildings-city-workshop/#respondSat, 27 Aug 2016 22:49:59 +0000https://norcalapa.org/?post_type=sustainability-blog&p=8842Biophilia – The DNA for Resilient, Sustainable, and Human 21st Century Cities OR Should Cities be “Green” with Nature? “We need nature in our lives more than ever today, and as more of us are living in cities it must be urban nature. Biophilic Cities are cities that contain abundant nature; they are […]

Biophilia – The DNA for Resilient, Sustainable, and Human 21st Century Cities

OR

Should Cities be “Green” with Nature?

“We need nature in our lives more than ever today, and as more of us are living in cities it must be urban nature. Biophilic Cities are cities that contain abundant nature; they are cities that care about, seek to protect, restore and grow this nature, and that strive to foster deep connections and daily contact with the natural world. Nature is not something optional, but absolutely essential to living a happy, healthy and meaningful life.”(The Biophilic Cities Network (BCN): http://biophiliccities.org).

On Friday May 13, 2016, San Francisco Planning co-sponsored a half-day workshop with Arup on Biophilic SF for the week-long Executive Education Program of the,

The Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and

Singapore Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Academy

Leadership in Environmental Sustainability Executive Development Program

on Big Data & Biophilic Design (May 9-13, 2016)

The San Francisco / ARUP Session expanded the biophilic focus of the CMU/BCA Program from the building (biophilic design) to the city (planning), exploring both the planning challenge and SF’s current initiatives. On a walking tour to our afternoon discussion, the group visited three buildings with biophilic features, had lunch together in one plaza, and gathered in Arup’s conference room for presentations and discussion.

CMU/BCA Building Executive Program Description (from the brochure): The program offers a global overview of the sustainability movement, advocating a holistic approach to address resource management, promoting increasing use of renewable energy sources while minimizing energy consumption and maximizing health and comfort through innovative design and application of advanced building technologies. Focuses for this year’s program are on biophilic design and big data analytics.

Biophilia describes the natural affiliation of human beings toward nature and living organisms and its emphasis on the innate connection between humans and other living systems such as plants, animals and the weather. Biophilic design refers to the process of creating good habitat for people as a biological organism in the built environment.

Big Data Analytics in the context of the built environment can be defined as sensing, collection, processing and conveyance of building performance information that is understandable and actionable for data-drive decision making for processes of design, construction and operation of buildings and groups of buildings from campus to urban scales.

Click here for the workshop brochure,with a list of tour stops, participants, and literature list.

[Post prepared by Scott T. Edmondson, AICP, founder/past co-director and Research Program Lead of the Northern Section’s Sustainability Committee, one of the APA Sustainable Communities Division’s Sustainability Champions, and a strategic sustainability planner-economist at the SF Planning Department.]

]]>https://norcalapa.org/sustainability-blog/biophilic-buildings-city-workshop/feed/0Sustainable City Template–Hammarbyhttps://norcalapa.org/sustainability-blog/sustainable-city-template-hammarby-sjostad/
https://norcalapa.org/sustainability-blog/sustainable-city-template-hammarby-sjostad/#respondSat, 20 Aug 2016 23:44:43 +0000https://norcalapa.org/?post_type=sustainability-blog&p=8834Sustainable new build: Hammarby Sjöstad is Stockholm’s largest urban construction project. The “Hammarby model” has become a tool for environmentally friendly city development around the world. When completed in 2017, 26,000 people will be living here in 11,500 apartments. The district has been planned using an eco-cycle approach and is intended to showcase ecological and environmentally sensitive construction and […]

]]>Sustainable new build: Hammarby Sjöstad is Stockholm’s largest urban construction project. The “Hammarby model” has become a tool for environmentally friendly city development around the world. When completed in 2017, 26,000 people will be living here in 11,500 apartments. The district has been planned using an eco-cycle approach and is intended to showcase ecological and environmentally sensitive construction and living. From: Cities Alive – Rethinking Green Infrastructure, Foresight, Arup, 2015.

[Post prepared by Scott T. Edmondson, AICP, founder/past co-director and Research Program Lead of the Northern Section’s Sustainability Committee, one of the APA Sustainable Communities Division’s Sustainability Champions, and a strategic sustainability planner-economist at the SF Planning Department.]

See also his recent bookBirthright-People in Nature in the Modern World, which is exceptional (link to NPR interview here: http://www.npr.org/2013/01/20/169523283/connectingwithnature-to-reclaim-our-natural-birthright

About Terrapin.Focusing on transformative action for society, Terrapin utilizes whole-systems thinking to develop integrated design strategies, Terrapin challenges design and ownership teams to create restorative, regenerative environments. Terrapin believes in finding solutions that reconnect people with nature and mimic natural systems as this focus offers boundless opportunities to improve the quality of life for all. They also believe that high performance design means fundamentally improving health and productivity, while improving overall economic and environmental performance.

[Post prepared by Scott T. Edmondson, AICP, founder/past co-director and Research Program Lead of the Northern Section’s Sustainability Committee, one of the APA Sustainable Communities Division’s Sustainability Champions, and a strategic sustainability planner-economist at the SF Planning Department.]

]]>https://norcalapa.org/sustainability-blog/biophilic-city-planning-design-references/feed/0Sustainability Champions Launchhttps://norcalapa.org/sustainability-blog/sustainability-champions-launch/
https://norcalapa.org/sustainability-blog/sustainability-champions-launch/#respondFri, 05 Aug 2016 14:30:19 +0000https://norcalapa.org/?post_type=sustainability-blog&p=8799The APA’s Sustainable Communities Division (SCD) launched its sustainability leadership program, the Sustainability Champion (SC) program after nominations were made and champions were selected in August-September, 2014. Scott T. Edmondson, AICP, ISSP-SA, of the APA California Northern Section was selected as one of the champions and is looking forward to working with the California Chapter Board […]

]]>The APA’s Sustainable Communities Division (SCD) launched its sustainability leadership program, the Sustainability Champion (SC) program after nominations were made and champions were selected in August-September, 2014.

Scott T. Edmondson, AICP, ISSP-SA, of the APA California Northern Section was selected as one of the champions and is looking forward to working with the California Chapter Board and planners in creating an initiative to advance sustainability planning in California communities.

He will continue his Research Lead role in the Northern Section APA Sustainability Committee, which he proposed and co-directed with Katja Irvin, until January 2013.

The Northern Section Sustainability Committee will be one of the inaugural members of the SCD’s Sustainability Champions California program, and Scott will lead that work.

The APS SCD champion’s program grew out of the research and facilitated discussion that Scott initiated for the 2013 APA National Conference in Chicago (see this post: ).

For information, questions, joining the e-list, or interest in volunteering, please send Scott an email at scott.edmondson@sfgov.org.

Bio: forthcoming.

[Post prepared by Scott T. Edmondson, AICP, founder/past co-director and Research Program Lead of the Northern Section’s Sustainability Committee, one of the APA Sustainable Communities Division’s Sustainability Champions, and a strategic sustainability planner-economist at the SF Planning Department.]

]]>https://norcalapa.org/sustainability-blog/sustainability-champions-launch/feed/0Regenerative Urbanism Rising – Webinar & Resourceshttps://norcalapa.org/sustainability-blog/regenerative-urbanism-rising/
https://norcalapa.org/sustainability-blog/regenerative-urbanism-rising/#respondFri, 15 Jul 2016 03:34:16 +0000https://norcalapa.org/?post_type=sustainability-blog&p=8750More resources on the APA Sustainable Communities Division web site here. There is also a Sustainable Communities Division Group Linked In discussion here. A list or key references and links can be found here (forthcoming July 16th). SHORT Description. Pivoting from a net negative to net positive trajectory soon is our current sustainability planning challenge. […]

There is also a Sustainable Communities Division Group Linked In discussion here.

A list or key references and links can be found here (forthcoming July 16th).

SHORT Description. Pivoting from a net negative to net positive trajectory soon is our current sustainability planning challenge. Regeneration is the theme that is bubbling up across our plan, design, and build professions and the key to the pivot/shift. The upcoming APA webcast planning series WEBINAR on Regenerative Urbanism Rising – Platform for Next Generation Practice, explores this challenge, theme, and potential as described below. Click here to register.

FULL DESCRIPTION

July 15, WEBINAR: Regenerative Urbanism Rising: Next-Generation Practice, APA Planning WebCast Series, FRI, July 15, 10-11:30 am (PST), (SCD description) (register). This Webinar presents the case for the necessary sustainability pivot from net negative to net positive sustainability planning (Scott Edmondson, AICP, ISSP-SA; SF Planning Dept.; APA Sustainability Champion) and illustrates accelerating innovation across our plan-design-build professions of a net positive approach with two practice cases. The first is an integrated utility system based on “circular economy” principles and a new business model (Joshua Foss, President, The Ecala Group). It can be used as a primary vehicle for achieving net positive, restorative city development and goals. The second is a regenerative approach to planning and designing high-performance districts that creates better places at the same or lower costs than traditional development (Charles Kelley, AIA, Partner, ZGF Architects). The Webinar illustrates how a regenerative built environment both becomes and creates a cornerstone of the needed ecological economy of a sustainable city and society. This Webinar re-presents the Sustainable Communities Division’s by-right session at the National APA Conference this past April 2016, and is offered as part of the Division’s Sustainability Champions Program. Go here to register. Go here for a LinkedIn pre-webinar discussion. Comments and questions to Scott.Edmondson@sfgov.org.

CM | 1.5.

[Post prepared by Scott T. Edmondson, AICP, founder/past co-director and Research Program Lead of the Northern Section’s Sustainability Committee, one of the APA Sustainable Communities Division’s Sustainability Champions, and a strategic sustainability planner-economist at the SF Planning Department.]

]]>https://norcalapa.org/sustainability-blog/regenerative-urbanism-rising/feed/0Jane Jacobs 100 B-Day Google Doodlehttps://norcalapa.org/sustainability-blog/jane-jacobe-100-b/
https://norcalapa.org/sustainability-blog/jane-jacobe-100-b/#respondFri, 06 May 2016 02:55:43 +0000https://norcalapa.org/?post_type=sustainability-blog&p=8647Well, google did a pretty good job with his one! (May 4, 2016). Their lead point: “Why have cities not, long since, been identified, understood and treated as problems of organized complexity?” Check it out. Think about it! [Post prepared by Scott T. Edmondson, AICP, founder/past co-director and Research Program Lead of the Northern Section’s Sustainability Committee, […]

Their lead point: “Why have cities not, long since, been identified, understood and treated as problems of organized complexity?”

Check it out. Think about it!

[Post prepared by Scott T. Edmondson, AICP, founder/past co-director and Research Program Lead of the Northern Section’s Sustainability Committee, one of the APA Sustainable Communities Division’s Sustainability Champions, and a strategic sustainability planner-economist at the SF Planning Department.]